Digitally created works, for example music or software, are commonly distributed on a transportable storage medium such as an optically or magnetically encoded disk. Means for retrieving and interpreting the contents of the transportable storage medium are typically embodied in a playing/rendering device, e.g. a computer system or a Compact Disc Player. While such distribution of digital works is common, it is not ideal. A deficiency of transportable storage mediums is that they are not contents revealing. That is, the contents of the storage medium cannot be determined by merely looking at the storage medium. An example of a contents revealing storage medium is paper. Absent any encoding, by simply looking at the paper, its contents can be determined.
A simple way of identifying the contents of storage mediums, e.g. an optical or magnetic disk, is to affix a written label to the medium. Unfortunately, every time the disk is reused, the label must be updated or a new label created and and attached. It requires diligence to relabel floppy disks as they are used. Moreover, as storage capacity increases, a label big enough to list the entire contents may become impractical. In the case of optical disk medium, content information is typically printed onto the medium itself. This is satisfactory for the current state of optical disk technology since such disks typically cannot be reused. However, writeable optical disk products are now available. Such products will cause optical disks to have the same deficiencies as other storage mediums. Absent a label, the only way of verifying the contents of a transportable storage medium is to insert it into a suitable playing/rendering device and invoke commands to list the contents.
It is anticipated that the distribution of works in digital form will increase dramatically. For conservation and convenience reasons, it would be desirable to collect desired works on a personal transportable storage medium which is inherently contents revealing. Further, it would be desirable to perform basic storage management functions, such as deleting a file or organizing the content of the storage medium, without having to insert the storage medium into a playing/rendering device. This would enable a user to "make room" or organize the contents of the storage medium when necessary.
A technology which is related to the present invention is in the area of "smartcards". Smartcards are generally implemented to increase the convenience of performing various transactions, e.g. financial transactions. An example application of a smartcard would be as a smart financial services card. In such an application, the smartcard could provide Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) access as well as perform functions such as limiting the ATMs at which the card could be used and maintaining a record of ATM transactions. U.S. Pat. No. 4,868,376 to Lessin et al. entitled "Intelligent Portable Interactive Personal Data System" describes a smartcard having an alphanumeric keypad for user input, an alphanumeric display for displaying the results of various commands, a microprocessor, an operating system for controlling the smartcard, storage for storing one or more application programs and an Input/Output port for sending and receiving information. The smartcard described in Lessin et al. can be programmed for specific applications.
As noted above, smartcards have a focus that is primarily on enabling and/or recording certain transactions. As a result, their storage requirements are fairly modest. Known smartcard implementations are inadequate for use as a transportable storage medium due to their limited storage capacities.
A further related technology is for Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), such as the Newton (TM) PDA, available from Apple Computer, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. PDAs are typically portable computer systems, often characterized as having a "pen" based input device. PDAs are typically distributed with packages which perform various personal organization (e.g. calendering, address book) and communication (e.g. messaging) functions. Alternatively, PDAs can be programmed to perform desired applications.
Another related technology area is hardcards. Hardcards are storage medium such as a hard disk which is coupled to and packaged with a storage controller (rather than having separate controller and hard disk devices). The hardcard is then coupled to the computer system. Hardcards are typically used as a "permanent" storage medium which remains coupled to the computer system and are not meant to be transportable. Further, hardcards are not contents revealing.